Journey to the West 010

Snapping back to reality, he saw these little demons staring at him eagerly and suddenly realized something.

"Every time I went to save A'Cui, what happened to them?" he asked.

Xiao Hei was silent for a few seconds: "Not well at all."

The first time, they were taught a lesson by the Yalong Taoist, who tried to make them surrender, but they would rather die than yield. They all died at the hands of that old fox. Da Huang's skin was even stripped off and made into clothing.

The second time was the same.

The third time, having lost their king, Fang Zhiyi, they were soon targeted by other great demons, resulting in death, flight, and exile.

Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath: "It's fine. This time, I still have a full year."

This day would mark the rise of the Sunward Cave.

"Have you heard?" A woodcutter glanced around fearfully and said to his companion who had come to gather firewood.

The companion was puzzled: "Heard what?"

"The bandits holed up in Black Dragon Mountain are all dead. Someone went to see the scene; it was gruesome."

"Oh, I heard. They say it was done by demons."

"Those demons are truly vicious!"

"The bandits weren't good people either."

"And also, I heard that several other gangs of bandits nearby have been wiped out too, died in exactly the same way as those on Black Dragon Mountain!"

"Hisss... I'm getting chills down my back. Let's hurry down the mountain."

"Do you think maybe those demons are delivering heaven's justice?"

"Are you still asleep? Demons delivering justice?"

Their voices gradually faded into the distance.

A wild boar's head peeked out from behind a rock: "Captain Huang, our deeds have reached the ears of mortals."

The wolf demon Da Huang walked out unhurriedly. His once silly and naive expression was now gone, replaced by a look devoid of its former innocence: "The Great King said to let them spread the word. The wider, the better."

Following a howl, Da Huang turned to look in a direction: "Move out!"

The little demons lurking nearby suddenly revealed themselves, rushing swiftly towards the direction of the howl.

Outside a cave at this moment, two little demons holding steel tridents stuck their necks out: "Who do you think you are? You dare to ask to see our Patriarch Yalong?"

In their eyes, this bear demon before them was just a rookie, a mere three hundred years of cultivation, yet he dared to come knocking and announce himself.

Fang Zhiyi tilted his head. In the next second, he vanished from his spot and appeared right in front of the two little demons.

"What I said was, tell it to roll out here. Otherwise, I'll go in myself. Do you not understand?"

"You..." The gatekeeping demons were shocked. Just as they were about to speak, their heads were grabbed, and their entire bodies were sent flying.

"Master, this location has excellent feng shui." Several weasels dressed in Taoist robes were gathered around a map, pointing and gesturing in a human-like manner. The Yalong Taoist bent over to look and smiled: "Not bad, not bad. You have some discernment. I remember there's a bear demon's cave here, called something like... Sunward Cave, right?"

"A mere bear demon. If it's smart, it'll join us. If not, we'll kill it!" One weasel waved its fist.

"But we have to wait a while," the Yalong Taoist said, stroking its beard in a practiced manner. "They say Tang Seng is coming soon."

"Tang Seng?"

"That Tang Seng whose flesh grants immortality if eaten?"

The weasels' eyes gleamed.

No wonder Master wants to expand our territory!

A flash of anger passed through the Yalong Taoist's eyes. Immediately, the weasels all clutched their heads. The Yalong Taoist withdrew its smoking pipe: "What wishful thinking are you doing? Eating Tang Seng's flesh? Don't you weigh your own capabilities?"

"Master... he's just a monk... we just need to go capture him..."

"Don't I know there's money in a bank?" the Yalong Taoist scolded in a low voice. "He has three disciples. You must have heard of them, right?"

Seeing its disciples' blank faces, it felt exasperated. "The eldest disciple is Sun Wukong, also called Sun Wukong, titled the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. He entered the scene later than me, but he caused havoc in Heaven, clashing head-on with a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers. Can you do that?"

The disciples looked at each other and instinctively shrank their necks.

"The second disciple is Zhu Bajie, formerly Marshal Tianpeng of the Heavenly Court. Can you handle him?"

"The third disciple is Sha Wujing, General Jianlian. Though I don't know much about him, just hearing the name suggests he's not someone to be trifled with."

One weasel muttered: "Sun the Executor, Zhu the Slayer, Sha the Endless Killer..." It swallowed hard.

The Yalong Taoist said gravely, "It's said these names were all given by that monk. Do you think we can provoke them?" It paused. "Oh, and that Tang Seng's Dharma name is Tang Sanzang! There's a rumor: Sanzang—he buries heaven, buries earth, buries all living beings!"

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over the weasels. The greed in their eyes cleared.

"Master, then we..." The weasels looked at the Yalong Taoist with eager eyes.

"Wherever the Tang monk and his disciples pass, the great demons there become souls under their staff. Those with connections get taken away; those without get beaten to death." The Yalong Taoist paused, a hint of resolve in its eyes. "We'll seize this opportunity to expand our influence. Once the Tang monk and his disciples have passed through, this area will be the domain of our Great Immortal Cave! By then, won't we be able to find opportunities for immortality?"

The weasels suddenly understood and began flattering their master.

Watching its chattering disciples, the Yalong Taoist breathed a sigh of relief.

There were some things it hadn't said. As an old demon who entered the scene even earlier than Sun Wukong, it knew when to do what. This was the reason it had survived to this day. Back then, by picking up peaches the monkey had thrown down from the Heavenly Court, it had extended its lifespan by several hundred years and even increased its cultivation.

Since then, it had become even more cautious.

Gradually, it truly caught a whiff of the aura of the Great Dao and, by chance, learned some skills. Although it couldn't see the future and know the past like immortals, it could still glimpse a bit of heavenly secrets.

Did these foolish disciples really think the Tang monk and his disciples were meat on a chopping block? The Buddha had it all planned out long ago: eighty-one tribulations, not one more, not one less. Over half of those eighty-one tribulations involve people with connections. The rest are assigned quotas—going means death, not going also means death. Back then, I was clever. I chose to be struck half-dead by a heavenly thunder tribulation to escape the arrangements of the Heavenly Way.

Later, that so-called distant relative—who knows where it came from—actually sent someone to invite me to share Tang Seng's flesh? It must have thought its life was too long! Fortunately, I didn't go. Sure enough, later that cave was completely wiped out by Sun Wukong.

The Yalong Taoist's gaze fell on the recently drawn map. Now the opportunity had come. With the Tang monk and his disciples on the move, many great demons were being eliminated. It could seize the chance to rise! Then, whether human or livestock, it could eat as much as it wanted!

What's so great about Tang Seng's flesh? Is it more delicious than children? The old fox licked its lips.

A loud crash brought it back to its senses. It saw one of its little demons patrolling outside the cave fly in, almost hitting it.

The Yalong Taoist barely dodged. Looking again, the little demon was already beyond saving.